How to Attract Butterflies

Butterflies are basically insects, but unlike most of their cousins, these are pretty, there is hardly a plain Jane in this line of insects. The butterfly's body is divided into three parts (the head, thorax and abdomen), six jointed legs, four wings, a pair of antennae, an exoskeleton and compound eyes. The body is covered by tiny sensory hair. The thorax contains the muscles that make the attached legs and wings move. All this may not make the butterfly sound attractive enough, but it all adds up when they flutter those wings that display striking colors. And this is the striking display that most people want in their gardens.

Butterfly's Color

How does a butterfly get its color? Some have just one, while some have an entire color pallet. The hues are so intense that one can easily spend hours watching them. A butterfly's color is characterized by their minute scales. Butterfly scales are pigmented with melanin that gives them their different shades of brown, black and in some, yellow from melanin, while the microstructure of the scales are responsible for blues, greens and reds.

It is the structural coloration principle that allows the colors to shift and appear more intense. When light is coherently scattered by the photonic crystal nature of the scales, light gets passed through a transparent, multi-layered surface, resulting in multiple reflections that intensify the butterfly's wings colors. The combination of a butterfly's structural, pigmented color and iridescence create interesting effects when the butterfly's wings change color as it moves its wings and the light passes at different angles. And what you get is a butterfly with a single or multiple vivid colors.

Ways to Attract Butterflies

Butterflies are found everywhere. They will flutter where they get nectar, the sweet sugary liquid they suck out using a tube called proboscis. They migrate too, like the bright orange-and-black monarch butterflies that travel quite a distance every fall and return every spring to lay eggs. So if you stay in their migration path, or a location that is home to them, then attracting butterflies to your garden would prove to be very easy.

Butterflies are attracted to flowers that are nectar plants, and bright in colors. Have you ever wondered why some gardens have more butterflies than others, despite having the same number of flowers. The answer lies in the quality of the flowers, most hybrids do not contain nectar that butterflies want or even enjoy. So have a balance of wild flowers or native species. Another important note of interest is making sure that you have both; spring as well as autumn flowers. Spring flowers will provide nectar for butterflies coming out of hibernation, whereas autumn flowers will help butterflies build up their reserves for the winter hibernation.

You can also ensure a breeding ground for them, but be ready to handle the damage the caterpillars can render. People who are experienced in attracting butterflies in their garden also advice against the use of pesticides on the flowers, not only does it affect the quality of the nectar, it works as a repellent to them. And it is preferable to grow flowers in small groupings rather than individually, butterflies get attracted to a riot of colors. Azaleas, daisy, salvia, bougainvillea, butterfly bush, milkweed, cornflower, coreopsis, daylily, cosmos, fennel, dianthus, Globe amaranth, hollyhock, impatiens, petunia, tithonia, nasturtium, pansy, black eyed susan plants, alyssum, viburnum, zinnia, asters, phlox, candytufft, etc are some of flowers that will add lots of colors to your garden, and bring in the butterflies. And once they start coming in, don't stop there, bring in the hummingbirds too.

Butterflies are excellent pollinators that help increase not only flower, but fruit and vegetable production. Follow one simple rule - more the flowers, more the nectar, which in turn means more butterflies!